The Worst TikTok Skin Care Trends, According To Dermatologists

TikTok has a video on everything you could ever want to know: inspo for the latest trending hair colors, a workout that’s sure to be the one that finally grows your glutes, and of course, a never-ending well of skin care advice.

But that doesn’t mean that all the advice is worth taking. In fact, there’s so much health and wellness misinformation on social media these days, countless doctors have become content creators themselves just to combat it.

We asked dermatologists (some of whom are as chronically online as we are) which TikTok skin care trends they’d never do themselves, and they delivered.

You know the TikToks – a bleary-eyed girl stands at her bathroom counter at 6 a.m. peeling back layers of sheet masks and mouth tape she wore overnight. Dermatologists aren’t here for the excessive use of skin care because you know these creators are applying more products before all the masks.

“There is limited data to support the use of many of the products featured in morning shed videos,” said Dr. Brendan Camp, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology. “Using too many products on the skin can disrupt the skin barrier and predispose it to irritant contact dermatitis. This means redness, itching, dryness and irritation. Keeping a streamlined, simple routine that you’ll be able to commit to on a nightly basis will most likely be more effective in the long run than the intermittent use of a complex group of products.”

This trend has really taken off in recent months, as more and more Tik Tokers swear by the substance as an all-natural moisturizer that outperforms all others if you’re striving for glass skin. That said, it is literally rendered beef fat, so you may want to dig into the research a bit before swiping it on.

“First, it doesn’t smell great. Second, there’s no real benefit to it over a traditional moisturizer,” said Dr. Muneeb Shah, a dermatologist at Hudson Dermatology and Laser Surgery in New York City who’s also known as the popular TikTok user “DermDoctor.”

“Not only does rubbing beef fat on my skin sound unappealing, it is definitely a situation where natural doesn’t mean better,” said Dr. Brooke Jeffy, a board-certified dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Whether it helps hydrate the skin is controversial but it certainly acts to occlude the skin, trapping in oil, dead skin, and bacteria, which is a recipe for inflammation and breakouts.”

Word on the internet street is that looping a rubber band over each of your ears and wearing them there for a while (the time range differs on every video) can help with lymphatic drainage from your face. Doctors say that’s not really a thing.

“This is not going to do anything for puffiness but will compromise blood flow to the ears, which can lead to cauliflower ear — which is not attractive,” Jeffy added.

Ice rollers are great in theory, but potentially dangerous in real life. Some experts swear by it for reducing puffiness, but you should definitely exercise caution.

“If you leave ice in one spot for too long, you could get a thermal injury. So yeah, it’s not something that I’m using in my daily routine,” Shah said. “Ice rollers, or even just dunking your face in ice water in the morning, could give you a jolt and help with puffiness by constricting the blood vessels. But there’s not going to be any long-term benefits to putting ice on the face.”

If you want the benefits without risks, other derms recommended grabbing a slice of cucumber (cold from the fridge) and applying that to the face, or just holding your face in the stream of a cool shower for a bit.

By now, we all know that sun exposure is bad news and increases the risk of developing skin cancer. But TikTokers are using SPF to highlight their faces, leaving the rest of their face to be darkened (or burned) by the sun, creating a long-lasting, natural contour. This is a trend dermatologists do not condone, said Dr. Blair Murphy-Rose, a dermatologist at the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York.

“Sunblock should be applied to cover all skin. Look for a broad-spectrum mineral sun protectant containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide with an SPF of 30 or higher, and, importantly, apply and reapply appropriately. As a general rule of thumb, you should apply two fingers worth of sunscreen to cover your face, ears and neck, and more for a bare scalp,” she said.

“Sunscreen should be applied to all exposed areas of skin to protect it from damaging ultraviolet radiation,” Camp added. “Selectively applying sunscreen predisposes untreated areas to sunburn, sun damage, and increases the risk of later developing skin cancer.”

Now seems like a good time to recommend trying the fake tan contour trend instead.

These treatments involve applying pigments to the skin and microneedling them in, essentially promising a semi-permanent form of foundation. Dermatologists strongly disapprove.

“Using small needles to push makeup further into the skin, creating a longer lasting semi-permanent tattoo, should absolutely be avoided. This is dangerous and carries a high risk of infection, scarring and pigmentary alterations. Makeup is not formulated to be injected into the skin. It is a foreign body that is likely to cause issues with microneedling on top,” Murphy-Rose warned.

Camp seconds her, saying that unlike pigments used for eyebrow microblading or other permanent makeup services, often products seen being applied in these treatments online are “not intended for placement in the dermis.”

Yep, the 99-cent bottle of orange Dial is a hot commodity on TikTok. Its proponents say it clears acne and blackheads fast and prevents new blemishes from forming. Unfortunately, that’s not all it does, derms say.

“Before I was a dermatologist, that’s what I did for a long time. It didn’t do anything bad to me, but it was quite drying, and you don’t need antibacterial soap for the face in general,” Shah said. “Your skin has a microbiome of different organisms on it, so you really don’t want to be cleansing your skin of all bacteria because otherwise you could mess up your microbiome. Newer cleansers are made to cleanse the skin and respect the skin barrier by leaving hydration behind.”

Murphy-Rose added, “I would be lying if I told you I have never done this in a pinch, but it is not recommended for daily use and can lead to skin irritation, dryness, and disruption of the skin barrier due to the harsh ingredients found in most antibacterial hand soaps.”

Botox you can buy online. Hyaluronic pens to DIY your lip filler. All of it generally terrifies dermatologists, and you won’t catch them trying these products at home.

“These at-home self-injectables are so scary, and I hope we can convince people to stop trying them,” Murphy-Rose said. “Hyaluronic pens carry inherent, serious risks like severe infection and disfiguring tissue necrosis, or tissue death, and even blindness, as well as scarring. Leave injections to experienced injectors with a vast knowledge of the anatomy, control over the needle, and the ability to identify and correct issues should they arise.”